USA > Rhode Island > Bristol County > Bristol > Celebration of the two-hundredth anniversary of the settlement of the town of Bristol, Rhode Island : September 24th, A.D. 1880 > Part 16
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The following lines, from the pen of a "daughter of Bristol," Miss ANNE E. COLE, of Warren, blend in sweet harmony with the grand refrain of our Bi-Centennial, and most appropriately close the record of the festal day. They originally appeared in the Providence Journal a few days after the celebration. They are now published with a slight addition, having been revised by the fair author. We give them-sweet echoes of a grand chorus : -
BI-CENTENNIAL ECHOES.
We heard from afar a sweet refrain ; - " Children, my children, come home again. Come home, come home, a welcome will meet you, Come to your birthplace, wherever you roam, In festal adornments I wait now to greet you,
From the east and the west, my children, come home."
As Mercury fleet, On swift-flying feet, With white pinions neat, The missives were sent; And hundreds were polled In the soft satin fold, With the quaint letters old, Past centuries lent.
In the councils of State,- In the halls of the great,- Where the humble ones wait, The summons was laid. And the message conned o'er, They sped homeward once more, As they never before Their parent obeyed.
Steed, steam and wind, their powers combined With favoring sun and air; The inbound trains bore martial strains, And cannon hailed them there.
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Badges displayed,-the grand parade,- Th' adorned and bannered way,- The joyful word of greeting heard, Gladdened the centuries' day.
But abler pens than mine have traced The festive hours along, And loftier chords more sweetly swelled The bi-centennial song.
The breath of devotion, and childhood's pure strain, Blent o'er the thousands, home-gathered again ; Through the rifts of the tent the soft breezes strayed, And glints of warm sunlight in ambush there laid.
The grave historic muse was there, Scanning each word with jealous care, The massive pages musing o'er, Lest Romance tinge the sober lore.
Legend and tale of Viking old, Though traced in annals clear and bold, Alike, the plain statistics shock,- They antedated Plymouth rock.
No earlier footprints here were found, The red man held the primal ground, And Plymouth next the treasure wins, Rolled up in seven beaver skins.
Nor yea, nor nay, we said amen, When listening to the Diamond pen Which bore no tribute, gave no meed, To hero of the mythic deed.
Good Massasoit, Philip too, Some words of calm approval drew; Some pen-marks few were made to trace The history of the conquered race.
The story of the ancient town,- The honored four of old renown,- The wealth and commerce o'er the seas,- The home-bound, freighted argosies-
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The grand historic altar graced, With many records I've not traced ; His moral then the Historian drew, And o'er the rest Time's mantle threw.
Then Poesy awoke her sweetest lays, And a full tone rolled forth in tuneful praise. Not broken was that shell, nor still that lyre, The " force of will " woke all the olden fire; It streamed afar o'er the wild Norsemen's way, And shed on Metacom a pitying ray. We saw well nigh a thousand years of time, By light electric of historic rhyme. Those " chords unstrung," re-echoed through the wild, Fair Gudrid's Norse-notes to her Vinland child. In Montaup's shades we heard a nation's wail, And saw the white man o'er the red prevail. We met to-day with gleeful notes attune, Fair as the May, and sweet as flowers of June. And classic ground awhile we wandered o'er, Then turned once more to bless our native shore.
The pain of sweetness, and the sweet regret This poem chaste awoke, is lingering yet.
To this mind-feast we fain would tarry late, But dinner calls us to its stern debate.
Sons and daughters come, The moments are fleeting, Receive the warm greeting,- The fond welcome home.
Sons and daughters haste While the garlands are bright, Feast now in our sight, Of the banquet now taste.
And there was spread a royal feast ; From north to south, from west and east, Was gathered a vast store. The sea, the land, the realms of air, The fattening stall, the fowler's snare, Their varied tributes bore.
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The fruits of many a distant clime,- The products of our harvest time,- The luxury of cold,- In viands rare, and richly wrought, With golden words of welcome fraught, Revealed their wealth untold.
We feasted at the gracious board, Where Plenty its libations poured ; - The flying hours sped on. We listened to the parting word, The parting melody we heard, "Twas finished all too soon.
With music sounding to the breeze, Were planted four memorial trees, Just at the sun's last ray. O'er hill and stream, through wood and dell, The cannon thundered its farewell; - Two centuries rolled away.
I pause beside the festal board once more To hear those gracions words repeated o'er By bard and scholar, statesman and the sage, As each traced out the progress of the age. Bright scintillations flashed from mind to mind, And grace and feeling answered back in kind. Each laid his tribute on the household shrine, And sought some flowery wreath of love to twine. There, too, upon home's olden altar-stone, The light of thanks and filial homage shone. At twilight hour we went with reverent tread, To view the portraits of the honored dead. We saw the worthies of the olden town, Who reared this commonwealth of fair renown. With busy care they wrought out far to-day, Which in the coming centuries dimly lay. We spanned these centuries, -saw the years along, Telling their stories to the passing throng. Each pictured face, in framework quaint and dark, Held its lone post,-Time's silent finger mark. Founder and preacher, ruler, statesmen too, And far-famed beauties met the admiring view. The wondering light of every moveless eye, Thus mutely seemed to ask the passers-by ; -
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"By whose rude right have we obeyed the calls Which tore us from our own familiar halls? Yours is our heritage,-a fair bequest, - Leave us our past, its silence and its rest." And thus across two centuries green and fair, Those vanished generations met us there.
From hallowed scenes, dim with the far away, We turn again to our own bright to-day. The evening time speeds on in light and song, And joyous hearts the festive hours prolong. Fair as its day, on History's page, appears The Bi-Centennial of the Bristol years.
APPENDIX.
The following account of the " High School Reunion," held on Saturday evening, September 25th, was furnished by HENRY H. TILLEY, Esq., of Washington, D. C .: -
THE HIGH SCHOOL RE-UNION.
The reunion of the Bristol High School, in Byfield Hall, on Saturday evening, was a most successful and enjoyable affair, and formed a pleasing conclusion to the bi-centennial festivities of the week. The hall was tastefully decorated, the walls showing appropriate mottoes, chiefly in Latin, and the front of the platform being covered with plants in bloom. When the meeting was called to order, at 8 P. M., an audience of over two hundred were assembled, comprising the present pupils of the school, with former ones from the time of its inauguration, in 1848. Henry H. Tilley, of the Navy Department, Washington, D). C., presided, and called upon Rev. J. P. Lane, for many years, and until his recent removal from the town, a member of the School Committee, to open the meeting with prayer. Mr. Tilley then made the following introductory address :
Ladies and Gentlemen, Teachers and Pupils, of the High School :
As one of the original members of the High School, I have been selected to preside on this occasion, and in the name of the present school, to wel- come the returning members. Although I have not the honor and satis- faction of being a graduate, and at the time of my connection with the institution it was yet in its infancy, I yield to none in my appreciation of its importance and advantages, and have ever esteemed the influence of the comparatively limited period which I was permitted to pass within its walls, as among the most important upon my subsequent career in life. And in this connection I cannot omit paying a passing tribute to the memory of our first principal, the lamented Prof. Wm. E. Jillson, whose firm and dignified, yet gentle and persuasive manner-so happily combin- ing the suaviter in modo with the fortiter in re -was of more value to us, by inspiring a love of learning for his, as well as its own sake, than the actual instruction which he so lucidly imparted. Of my other teacher,
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the genial and polished Lafayette Burr-whose name is a decided misno- mer, since if he ever had any such rough outside covering, he must have shed it very early in life-I need not make further mention, as we still have the pleasure of reckoning him, as well as Mrs. B., our former school- mate and the daughter of Dr. Shepard, the earliest and firmest friend of the school, among our living friends, and only regret that circumstances did not allow of their being present with us this evening.
Those early days, together with the venerable old Academy in which they were passed. and, alas! with some of the old companions then so dear to us, are gone. And many of those still living, scattered throughout the world, are unable to be with us to-night "To them we send a hearty greeting, with the hope that we may, ere long, have the pleasure of once more grasping them by the hand. But to us who look back with regret to those happy days, and who only get a glimpse of the scenes amid which they were passed once a year or less, it is a source of much gratification that the High School, after all the vicissitudes through which it has passed, not only still lives, but is located in such pleasant and commo- dious quarters as the Byfield building, in which we are now assembled, and that our places are occupied by such promising pupils-the sons and daughters of our old schoolmates - as I saw there the other day, and most of whom are with us this evening, prepared to cordially welcome their predecessors of all the former years. In the light of my experience since I left the school, I cannot forbear to impress upon them the importance of improving to the utmost the advantages which old Bristol so generously offers them, and which, in some respects, far exceed those that the National Capital, where I now reside, is yet able to afford its school chil- dren. With its population of over 150,000, and all its fine school edifices, Washington has no high school where, as here, pupils can be fitted for college; nor, I may add, with all its literary advantages for scholars and men of leisure, has it any free circulating library like the Rogers. Remem- ber, then, my young friends, " of him to whom much is given, much shall be required," and do not neglect the opportunities now offered you, or it will prove a source of unceasing regret in after life.
And to my schoolmates and other formner pupils of the school who, hav- ing entered on the active duties of life, remain here at the old homestead, and have taken the places of the fathers, who, in my boyhood, had the direction of affairs, I would simply say, " Freely ye have received, freely give "; and I urge you to see that the reputation which, as the orator of the day and others informed us yesterday, the town has enjoyed even fromn its foundation, for liberality on the subject of education, be not diminished or obscured; and especially that the High School which, as President Robinson claimed, formed so important a link in our State educational system, and whose advantages you can appreciate, is not allowed to decline or perish. But, as our time is limited, I am reminded that I was not put here to make a speech, but merely to serve as a portico to the temple.
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The chair announced that the committee had been disappointed in the absence of Mr. Burr, the second principal of the school, to whom he had already referred, and read a letter from him regretting his inability to be present, on account of other engagements, and also the following extract from a private letter to himself :
"I have no doubt that my ' boys,' most of whom are occupying positions of trust and responsibility, will give a good account of themselves, while the girls' 'caræe alumna' will also be present, if the claims upon them as wives, mothers, or teachers permit. They may not speak of what they have accomplished in life, but their good deeds and true lives are known, and their happy influence is felt wherever they may live. May God bless them all, and long spare them to be good and useful men and women, and when they all have crossed the flood, may our reunion in the spirit-land be happy and complete."
Another disappointment was caused by the absence of Hon. T. W. Bick- nell, a former principal, who had given the committee encouragement to expect him, but telegraphed at the last moment that he was unable to cancel a prior engagement in Boston.
Robert S. Andrews, for many years Superintendent of Public Schools, being called upon, made a brief address, and en passant related an anec- dote communicated to him by the poet of the bi-centennial (Bishop Howe), of his early school-days in the old Academy.
Rev: Calbraith B. Perry, of Baltimore, Md., a comparatively young graduate of the school, made a most amusing extempore speech, com- mencing with an allusion to an item in a Baltimore paper, to the effect that he had " gone to his native place to celebrate his bi-centennial, and would stop in the house in which he was born, which was still standing." He adverted to the work in which he is now engaged among the colored pop- ulation of Baltimore, describing one of his original pupils, styled the "India Rubber Boy," and ended with some telling allusions to his early school days, which brought down the house.
He was followed by Rev. Joseph Trapnell, rector of St. Michael's twenty- five years ago, when his children were pupils of the school, who gave some excellent advice as to the true end of education.
Prof. Wilfred H. Munro, the historian of Bristol, and Chandler H. Coggeshall, Secretary of the High School Association, gave entertaining reminiscences of their school days, and Rev. W. J. Tilley, of Middlebury, Vt., a former pupil, made a brief but spicy speech.
Hon. Wm. H. Spooner, one of the first pupils, late President of the Town Council, and member of the Legislature, being called upon, expressed his gratification at the reunion, but excused himself from a speech, and offered as a substitute Hon. Win. J. Miller, he being a mem- ber of the School Committee, and married to a High School girl. Mr. Miller responded with some interesting reminiscences of the Bristol schools fifty years ago, paying a high tribute to Otis Storrs, one of the most efficient teachers of that day, who, he said, had first taught him the
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true end of school education, which was not so much the acquisition of facts, ns how to learn, which should be a life pursuit.
The literary exercises, which were agreeably diversified by vocal music admirably rendered by the Zerrahn Quartette, Messrs. Burgess, Spinning, Young and Liscomb, being brought to a close, a portion of the seats were removed, refreshments, provided in part by the ladies, were distributed, and the true reunion commenced, a season of social intercourse between the present and past pupils, many of whom now greeted each other for the first time for many years. Many regrets were heard for those who had passed away, particularly on the part of the pupils of Rev. N. B. Cooke and Mr. Morley, two of the most highly-esteemed and successful among the former principals. After the refreshments were disposed of, Prof. John Tweedale, of the War Department, Washington, D. C., the husband of a former pupil, read, by request, "Centennial Bells," and in response to persistent encores, gave several humerous selections in capital style.
The company separated about 11 P. M., with a general expression of sat- isfaction with the happy occasion, and a hope that it might soon be repeated. In conclusion, we may remark that it is a great source of grat- ification to its friends, that the school, which had rather langnished for several years, is fast regaining its former prestige under its present efficient Principal, J. E. Estee, who entered heartily into the project of the reunion, and to whom, with Miss A. B. Manchester, his assistant, its success is largely due.
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